Protection of Canadian National was not necessary, says Crime Chief Seelall Persaud

The Guyana Police Force did not see a need to provide any protection or security for the Canadian national who was shot to the buttocks during that execution-styled gunning down of Ricardo Rodrigues and hospitalised. According to Crime Chief, Seelall Persaud, the police did not see that as necessary. The Canadian National died mysteriously in the Georgetown hospital On Friday morning. He was a patient there for about two weeks and though he was in the High Dependency Unit, his condition was not seen as life threatening. The police visited the man on Thursday to get a statement from him. He spoke with the police and all was well after that. Later that night however, the man’s condition suddenly took a turn for the worst and he slipped into an unconscious state and never recovered. The Kaieteur News today reported that nurses at the hospital said the man was visited by an unidentified man just moments before he slipped into the unconscious state and may have been given something to drink.

The Crime Chief today said, he has no information on that but intends to check it out once he would have been in receipt of the post mortem report. When asked about why the police held on to the man’s passport and prevented him from leaving the country, Seelall said the man was never prevented from leaving and that the only reason the police held on to his passport was for safe keeping.

The Canadian man had complained about being blocked from leaving Guyana to get better medical attention back home in Canada. He had also complained about what he saw as the lack of assistance coming from the Canadian High Commission.

3 persons including the Canadian man were injured when a masked gunman opened fire on Ricardo Rodrigues at the Pit Stop food bar in the GMRSC Compound. Rodrigues was considered a major player in the local drug trade by both US and Guyanese authorities and the week before his death he had turned himself into police for questioning in connection with a large arms and ammo bust in the Lethem area. He was questioned and released on $100,000 bail.